324-unit development on the agenda at Feb. 13 planning board meeting

A large proposed apartment complex off Two Mile Drive on the west side of Kalispell will be the subject of a Feb. 13 planning board meeting.

The meeting comes two months after the seven-member board asked the Washington developer behind the proposed Crossings at Spring Creek for additional information before possibly giving a green light to the 324-unit project.

More than two-dozen neighboring residents came out during that Dec. 12 meeting to raise concerns about additional traffic, storm water runoff, pedestrian access, visual impacts and the potential for increased crime if the project were approved.

The developer, Spokane-based Bytech Construction LLC, is seeking to annex the property into city limits and get a conditional use permit. The planning board makes a recommendation to the Kalispell City Council, which has the final say on such permits.

The development would be built in three phases from south to north. The first phase would include the construction of four three-story apartment buildings and a clubhouse; phase two would include five apartment buildings and a pickle ball court; and phase three would include five additional apartment buildings and a basketball court. There would also be garages for each apartment surrounding the complex. The apartments would be rented at market value.

Bytech Construction wants to have the land zoned as RA-2, which would allow for more dense development with one housing unit for every 1,500 square feet of land. Most of the land surrounding the proposed development is zoned as RA-1, which allows for one housing unit for every 3,000 square feet of land. RA-2 also allows for professional office space to be developed on the land, but that is not part of the current proposal.

If the land was annexed into the city as RA-1, the developer could only build 220 housing units.

Senior Planner Jarod Nygren reported earlier this month that the developer had responded to some of the planning board’s questions. A new traffic memorandum stated that the development would have minimal impact on the surrounding roads, except for a service “reduction” at the Hawthorne and Two Mile Drive and Hawthorne and Three Mile Drive intersections, where drivers could experience an additional average delay of three seconds. Nygren said a full traffic study completed in the spring would provide further information.

Kalispell Public Works also reviewed a storm water memo from the developer that stated the impacts to the surrounding community would be minimal.

Nygren recommended that the planning board discuss the development further at its Feb. 13 meeting. The meeting takes place at the city council chambers at 6 p.m.